A MASS rally hold in the coastal city of Foochow, Fukien Province, on February 11, celebrated the smashing of a new counter-attack launched by the bourgeois reactionary line. It announced that the genuine revolutionary forces in Fukien Province and Its capital Foochow had. after a sharp class struggle, smashed a counter-revolutionary, adverse current stirred up by a handful of persons in the Party who were in authority and taking the capitalist road. This is a great victory for the invincible thought of Mao Tse-tung and for the proletarian revolutionary line represented by Chairman Mao. It has advanced the great proletarian cultural revolution throughout Fukien to a new stage, the stage of the great alliance of proletarian revolutionaries and their great seizure of power. In a mood of great revolutionary militancy, fully armed commanders and fighters of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and contingent upon contingent of revolutionary rebels carrying portraits of Chairman Mao and Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-tung streamed into the "May 1" Square where was then a sea of red flags. Air force planes flying overhead dropped revolutionary leaflets. At 2:30 p.m. the rally opened to the strains of The East Is Red. Among those attending were Han Hsien-chu, a leading member of the Chinese P.L.A. units stationed on the Fukien front, and Wei Chin-shui, representative of the Fukien revolutionary leading cadres.

Spokesman for P.L.A. Units in Fukien

Speaking on behalf of the P.L.A. units stationed in the province. Han Hsien-chu pointed out that this was a victory rally, a rally to lay the foundations for a great alliance of proletarian revolutionaries and to give a pledge of new victories. "The commanders and fighters of the land, sea and air forces of the P.L.A. stationed on the Fukien front are determined to carry out resolutely the instructions of Chairman Mao, our supreme commander," he declared, "to strengthen war preparedness, to ensure the defence of the nation, to safeguard extensive democracy under the dictatorship of the proletariat and the great cultural revolution, to support and aid unswervingly the genuine proletarian revolutionaries, to side with them through thick and thin, and to unite with them, fight shoulder to shoulder with them and win victory together with them." "In this fierce struggle,” Han Hsien-chu continued, "the revolutionary masses have seen through the tricks put up by this handful of persons who were in authority in Fukien and taking the capitalist road, and also their wild ambitions. We warmly welcome the awakening of those of the masses who were deceived and hoodwinked. They arc not to be blamed and the responsibility rests with the very few bad elements. The revolutionary enthusiasm of the masses must be cherished. As for those who committed the error of losing their bearings but are determined to correct this, we welcome their return to the correct stand and will win them over and rally them in the fight." Stressing the importance of a "three-in-one" combination of leading members of revolutionary mass organizations, leading members of army units in the area and revolutionary leading cadres of the Party and government organizations, he pointed out: "the urgent task of all our proletarian revolutionaries now is to bring about a great alliance of revolutionaries and to actively create conditions for the formation of provisional organs of power, through democratic consultation, of a 'three-in-one' combination to assume leadership in the struggle to seize power within the province. "It is necessary to persist in the main orientation of the struggle as pointed out by Chairman Mao, to persist in struggling against and overthrowing those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road, in criticizing and repudiating the reactionary bourgeois academic 'authorities' and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes and transforming education, literature and art and all other parts of the superstructure not in correspondence with the socialist economic base. We must carry the struggle through to the end against the handful of persons in Authority in the Provincial and Municipal Party Committees who are taking the capitalist road, thoroughly expose, criticize and repudiate them, overthrow and completely discredit them so that they can never rise again. At the same time, we must also accomplish the tasks of struggle, criticism and transformation in our own units. Our attitude towards cadres who committed mistakes is based on the traditional policy laid down by Chairman Mao, that of 'learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones, and curing the sickness to save the patient.1 It is not to overthrow them indiscriminately. This will enable us to concentrate our attention on overthrowing completely the counter-revolutionary revisionists who oppose the Party, socialism and Mao Tse-tung's thought." The speaker called on the proletarian revolutionaries to respond to Comrade Lin Piaos call, creatively study and apply Chairman Mao's works, link their study with actual struggle, study and apply in the course of struggle and unify their thinking and actions by Mao Tse-tung's thought. He urged all revolutionary mass organizations to enhance their proletarian revolutionary qualities, their scientific approach and sense of organization and discipline. He said: "We must resolutely implement the Party's policies, persist in struggle by reasoning and oppose coercion. It is necessary to draw a strict distinction between the two kinds of contradictions and in handling contradictions among the people, not use methods appropriate only to dealing with the enemy. In the struggle we must resolutely rely on the revolutionary Left, win over the middle, unite with the overwhelming majority and completely isolate and strike at the most reactionary bourgeois Rightists in order to achieve final victory in the great proletarian cultural revolution." Other speakers included Wei Chin-shui, the representative of the revolutionary leading cadres, Secretariat Member of the Fukien Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Governor of Fukien Province, and representatives of revolutionary workers, peasants, students and teachers, and cadres. They pledged themselves to follow Chairman Mao's teaching:With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foeAnd not ape Hsiang Yu the conqueror seeking idle fame.

They undertook to persevere in the struggle, to set out in hot pursuit and launch a fierce attack, so as to completely crush the new counter-attack of the bourgeois reactionary line and bring about the great alliance of the proletarian revolutionaries and their great seizure of power. The rally adopted a message saluting our most respected and beloved great leader Chairman Mao. A vast and impressive demonstration followed the rally, in which well over 150,000 of the revolutionary people and P.L.A. commanders and fighters took part.

Salute to Chairman Mao

The rally's message saluting Chairman Mao reads in part: "At the present important time when we, in eager response to your call, are learning from the revolutionary experience of Shanghai's proletarian revolutionaries in order to bring about the alliance of proletarian revolutionaries and so seize power from the handful of persons in the Party who are in authority and taking the capitalist road, the class enemy has been frantically carrying out new activities of sabotage. "Revolutionary people of the old revolutionary base areas in Fukien have maintained a clear-cut, firm stand in the great proletarian cultural revolution. This has thrown the counter-revolutionary, revisionist clique in Fukien Province into a panic. Therefore, while directing the spearhead of its struggle at the Liberation Army, this clique frenziedly suppressed revolutionary people in the old revolutionary base areas and vilified the revolutionary organizations there as 'counter-revolutionary organizations.' These reactionary acts represent another all-round counter-offensive of the bourgeois reactionary line in our province. "However, this plot of the counter-revolutionary revisionist clique was soon seen through by the revolutionary rebels. Enjoying your close concern and that of the Party Central Committee and using the 16-Point Decision and the Hongqi editorial (No. 3, 1967) as their weapon, and with the vigorous assistance of the People's Liberation Army, the Red Guard fighters of the General Headquarters of the 'August 29' Revolutionary Rebels of Fukien Province have displayed a dauntless spirit; daring to act boldly, to struggle, to measure forces with the enemy, to make revolution and to rebel, a spirit they have shown ever since the beginning of the great proletarian cultural revolution. They were the first to come out in defence of the proletarian revolutionary line and to resist this evil gust of wind. The revolutionary workers, peasants, cadres and Red Guard fighters have united, struggled courageously and seized one victory after another. These are new victories for your illustrious thought. "In this struggle to repel the new counter-offensive of the bourgeois reactionary line, the brave commanders and fighters of the army units at the front have been outstanding in creatively studying and applying Chairman Mao's works, and have resolutely carried through your wise instructions and stood four-square behind the revolutionary Left. Together with all revolutionary mass organizations, they have rebuffed this new counter-offensive of the bourgeois reactionary line. In this struggle, the relations between army and civilians have become even closer and the prestige of the People's Liberation Army has risen even higher. "The various revolutionary rebel groups have been seasoned in this struggle. We have emerged more closely-knit in our unity as well as stronger. In the course of the great class battles at this stage, vast numbers of revolutionary people have received an education and have enhanced their class consciousness. They have acquired a deeper understanding of the bourgeois reactionary line. The ranks of the revolutionary Left are growing rapidly. The course of events has followed the pattern you have taught us to recognize, that is, bad things have been turned into good things. "At the present time the great proletarian cultural revolution in Fukien Province has entered a new stage: the stage of the great alliance of the revolutionary Left and their great seizure of power. The revolutionary situation is very fine indeed! The proletarian revolutionaries are forging ahead victoriously in the direction you have pointed out!"